By: Con Marshall
CSC Sports Information
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Chadron State College junior Chayton Bynes earned third place in the triple jump at the NCAA Division II National Indoor Championships at Virginia Beach on Saturday afternoon.
The jump that netted Bynes his bronze medal came on his third of six attempts and measured 15.79 meters, or 51-feet, 9.75 inches. After finishing fifth in the same event a year ago, Bynes is the only Division II triple jumper to place among the top eight and earn All-American honors in each of the past two years.
"I can't say enough how beyond proud I am of him and how he's continued to grow," Chadron State head coach Jake Gruver said. "He is is the true embodiment of talent that works hard - a special athlete and a truly great person."
The winner of the triple jump event was senior Justin Forde of Washburn University in Kansas, who entered the competition tied with Bynes for the longest jump in Division II this season at 16.01 meters. Forde won by over a foot and a half, jumping 16.29 meters (53-5.5) on his final jump and also recording a jump of 16.24 meters (53-3.5) that would have been good enough to win.
Junior Antonio Caito of Embry-Riddle earned the silver medal on his final jump, when he went 15.82 meters (51-11) to move past Bynes into second place by one-and-a-quarter inches. Forde and Caito were the only two out of the nine finalists to record their scoring mark on their sixth and final jump.
Malik Drummond of Lincoln University in Missouri placed fourth at 15.57 meters (51-1) and Yves Bilong of Harding University in Arkansas was fifth at 15.57 (50-5.25). Keith Smith of Southern Arkansas, Johnetheon Lockett of Pittsburg State and Drew Lehman of Black Hills State rounded out the first-team All-American places while Pittsburg State's Isaiah Webster also made the finals and finished ninth.
Bynes got on the board with a 15.34-meter jump (50 feet, 4 inches) on his first attempt and did not improve on his second. As the last jumper to go in the second flight, Bynes sat in sixth place as he prepared for his third jump, well within the top nine to be safely through to three more jumps in the finals. But the junior timed his takeoff perfectly on his third attempt, which was measured at 15.79 meters (51-9.75). That jump was the third-farthest of the season for Bynes and was farther than anybody except for Bynes and Forde had leaped this season in Division II.
Caito, the jumper directly before Bynes in the order, moved up to second on his final attempt, so Bynes stepped onto the runway for his sixth jump guaranteed no worse than third but with one final opportunity to move up to second or first. Bynes turned in his second-best jump of the day, 15.73 meters (51-7.25), but that was not enough to improve his mark from his third jump or climb past Caito.
"I know first and especially second being right there is a tough pill to swallow, but he had a great, consistent series," Gruver said. "He's walking away healthy, consistent and with a little fire under him going into the outdoor season."
The 2025 winning mark was 15.38 meters, or 50-5.5. Bynes' fifth place make last year was just 2.25 inches shy of matching it. The Championships' record is 16.47 meters (54-0.5) set by Wilbert Walker of Lincoln University in 2006.
Bynes's other highlights this season included his career best 16.01 meters (52-6.5) mark that set Chadron State's indoor triple jump record and was at the top of the event's DII leader board national for three weeks. Forde matched that mark on the final day of the regular season. Bynes also set the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference meet's indoor record by going 15.99 meters, just an inch shy of his all-time best.